Girl In Red (R.HALE)

9

Bella disappeared from school the next day. 

Leigh had seen her in the morning, jumping out of her rusty, red truck and slinging her bag over her shoulder, walking with determination. She hadn't followed her, as she knew what she was going to do. She was going to go and accuse Edward of being a vampire. 

It still felt too ridiculous to Leigh to be real. 

Vampires were creatures of fiction. Surely, if the Cullens were vampires, they wouldn't live so openly, amongst so many humans? They were intimidating, sure - mostly because they looked like a troop of supermodels permanently in full glam, but also because of the way they moved. It was sleek, slinky, a bit like snakes. Or cats. But, Leigh had never seen them as threatening, until Bella planted that little seed in her head. 

She saw them across the parking lot. They'd taken two different cars, Edward's silver Volvo still parked beside Leigh's Honda - a glossy, red convertible and a hulking Jeep. Rosalie leaned against the convertible, tossing her hair over her shoulders as she laughed at something the small one, Alice, said. Emmett swung his arms like he was preparing for a fight, eager eyes devouring the parking lot in glee. 

Leigh couldn't help but shiver. 

However, this newfound caution around the Cullens didn't stop her from taking up Rosalie's offer. 

The library seemed quieter than usual when Leigh walked in. There were only a few students dotted about, headphones firmly in place and noses buried in various textbooks, pens clicking and scratching against paper. 

She saw her. 

She was sat at her usual table in the corner, one hand under her chin and the other writing something down. Leigh took a moment to steady herself, feeling as if she'd just been punched in the chest. 

How could someone be that beautiful? She didn't understand.

The golden waterfall of her hair, the angular lines of her face, subtle curves of her body. It was too much for Leigh. She felt as if she might have to lie down. 

"Hey," she said as she approached, smiling. 

Rosalie lifted her head, face blank. She nodded in greeting, before returning her attention to her homework. 

Leigh sat down in the chair opposite her, drawing out her beat-up copy of A Winter's Tale for the essay that was due. A part of her knew she was not going to get anything done in this free period, and she was oddly okay with that. She was content with simply being near Rosalie for a while. 

"Was your day okay?" 

Leigh almost dropped her book. 

Rosalie looked up at her through her eyelashes, eyebrow quirking in question. 

"Uh, yeah," Leigh said, trying to remember how to speak. "Yeah, it was alright. You?" 

Rosalie hummed and shrugged, eyes moving back to the waxed page of the textbook whilst Leigh tried not to go into cardiac arrest. 

"Sorry about yesterday, by the way." Rosalie sighed, turning the page of the textbook. "Emmett likes to think he has social skills." 

Leigh chuckled, surprised. "I appreciate the effort he puts in." 

"Mm," Rosalie huffed. "He doesn't seem to realise that conversations extend beyond 'hello'. He gets stuck after that." 

Leigh opened her book, trying to shove the ridiculously big smile off of her face. "You guys are still, like, quite close, then?"